Overview

• Thomas Lemke questioned providing full elective hip and knee implants to people aged 80 and above as part of efforts to contain healthcare costs.
• Lemke made the remarks on the podcast Table. Today, presenting them as a prompt for public debate rather than a policy change.
• He clarified that emergency treatment and standard basic care would not be affected by any such limitation.
• He acknowledged the suggestion would require a difficult ethical discussion that Germany needs to address.
• He proposed demand incentives, including a 100–200 euro annual bonus for insured people who visit a doctor no more than twice, and said many countries require co-payments above a certain age.